Moses Eugene Malone was born on March 23, 1955 in Petersburg, Virginia, USA. After finishing high school, he signed a letter of intent to go to the University of Maryland but then decided to become a professional basketball player and in 1974 was drafted by the Utah Stars of the ABA becoming one of the first players to skip college.
After one season with the Utah Stars, Moses Malone went to play for the Spirits of St. Louis, another team of the ABA. In the early years of his pro career he quickly reached the spotlight for his skills as a rebounder, averaging 12.9 rebounds per game. When the ABA and NBA merged, the Spirits of St. Louis didn’t join the NBA and Malone was selected by the Portland Trail Blazers. Eventually, he was traded to the Buffalo Braves which after two games almost immediately traded him to the Houston Rockets.
In the NBA, Moses Malone was still in the spotlight thanks to his extraordinary ability to capture rebounds, especially offensive. In his second season, he missed 23 games because of a stress fracture in his left foot but finished at the top of the offensive rebounds ranking and second in that of total rebounds.
In 1979, Moses Malone was elected MVP of the regular season. In 1981, the Houston Rockets reached the NBA Finals but lost them. In 1982, the team was eliminated in the first round of the playoffs despite the 24 points and 17 rebounds by Malone, who had been re-named the MVP of the regular season.
At the end of the 1981-82 season, Moses Malone went to the Philadelphia 76ers, a team that was already very strong with players such as Julius Erving, Andrew Toney, Maurice Cheeks and Bobby Jones. With teammates like them, in the 1982-83 season Moses Malone scored a bit less points but for his contribution was elected for the third time MVP of the regular season. However, this time his team was really strong, so much so that it won the NBA title and Malone was also elected MVP of the NBA Finals.
In subsequent seasons, Moses Malone was still dominant, especially at the rebounds, becoming the first player to lead the league in that statistic for five consecutive seasons. However, the 76ers didn’t reach the NBA Finals anymore and in 1986 Malone finished his season early because of a fracture of his right eye’s orbit.
In 1986, Moses Malone was traded to the Washington Bullets, where he kept on having excellent statistics but the team wasn’t very strong. In two seasons, the Bullets made only brief appearances in the playoffs being eliminated in the first round on both occasions.
Having become a free agent, in 1988 Moses Malone signed a contract with the Atlanta Hawks. Despite the presence of Dominique Wilkins, the results were limited and in his third season with the Hawks Malone played most games as a backup center.
In 1991, Moses Malone signed with the Milwaukee Bucks and went back to being the starting center. His statistics improved but the team was poor and didn’t reach the playoffs. Malone missed most of the 1992-1993 season to recover from a back surgery.
In 1993, Moses Malone returned to the Philadelphia 76ers, where he was the backup center and had the task of tutoring the young center Shawn Bradley.
In 1994, Moses Malone was traded to the San Antonio Spurs, where he played as a backup for David Robinson. At the end of the 1994-1995 season he retired.
In 1997, Moses Malone was voted among the NBA’s 50 Greatest Players. In 2001, he was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. A technically complete player, he’s best remembered for his incredible intensity and timing in going for the rebounds.
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